Why cinemas are turning to the dark side for salvation

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When Australian actor Miranda Otto shares screen time with Tom
Cruise in War Of The Worlds, she will be part of one of the
biggest blockbuster epics the world has seen.

In an industry where big budgets equal even bigger expectations,
the $350 million Steven Spielberg film is among some of the most
anticipated films of 2005, most of which are being released within
the next two months.

For Australian audiences, winter signals the arrival of some of
the year's biggest films, simply because many blockbusters are
released during the US summer season.

The impending season of big-name international films on
Australian screens is likely to bring relief to the local cinema
industry, which has had a sluggish start to the year.

"It has been a quiet few months for the industry as a whole.
There haven't been any big entertainment films along the lines of a
Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings, but now they're
definitely coming back in style," said Tracy Whybrew from Greater
Union. "It is definitely the beginning of the big film season."

Apart from Spielberg's alien epic, which is released here on
June 29, the biggest film of the year is expected to be Star
Wars III: Revenge Of The Sith, which is released on May 19

"I think Star Wars will be huge and you'll find that
people who missed the last film will go and see it, just to see how
it ties up," said Matt Coyte, editor of film magazine
Empire.

"The anticipation for it is absolutely massive," said Ms
Whybrew.

She said nearly all Greater Union's midnight sessions for the
movie (which are the first scheduled screenings of the film in
Australia) are sold out across the nation.

Apart from Star Wars fever among viewers of many ages, Ms
Whybrew predicted that the animated feature film Madagascar,
starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith, would be
the year's biggest children's blockbuster. It is released on June
16 in Australia, the same day as Batman Begins.

Mr Coyte said apart from the classic Boxing Day releases in
Australia, local audiences are becoming used to watching big-name
films in winter, as a result of US scheduling.

Other films are being targeted specifically towards female
audiences. Mr And Mrs Smith (starring real-life lovers Brad
Pitt and Angelina Jolie) is released on June 9, while Nicole
Kidman's big-screen remake of the classic television series
Bewitched comes out in early July.